THE LOLITA GENERATION; Girls get t makeovers at primary school, they want to diet aged 7 and their r pop idols writhe in X-rated videos. What hope for... EXPERT WARNS THAT SEX-OBSESSED SOCIETY IS ROBBING KIDS OF THEIR CHILDHOOD.(News)

Byline: LINDSAY CLYDESDALE

YOUNG girls are b fast-tracked thro childhood and sexua before they even s high school, an ex warned yesterday. being ough alised start xpert Primary school makeovers surgery wish-lists and casual v of x-rated videos have all b commonplace for children. , plastic viewing become In her new book Where H Little Girl Gone? parenting Tanith Carey says mums an need to put the brakes on w calls the "Lolita effect". Has My expert nd dads hat she She warned: "These days w really pass any values on to ou so they get the most shallow ever from celebrity culture videos, social media and th availability of porn. we don't ur kids, w values , music he easy "They see semi-clothed b lads' mags, Rihanna singing S&M, and everyone on a billb a size eight. abes in g about board is "You have to keep an eye o your daughter is doing or it totally out of control." on what can get The trigger for the book cam me when Tanith's daughter Lily, then aged seven, came home from school and announced she was going on a diet.

Tanith had been careful to give her daughter a positive body image - never mentioning diets and being positive about body issues - so she admits she was shocked.

But it made her realise how the influences on children outside the home were becoming increasingly pervasive - and negative.

She tackled the diet issue by playing it down, ignoring it and not making a fuss. A week later, Lily, now nine, had forgotten all about it.

Tanith, whose other daughter Clio is six, said: "By the age of three some girls already don't like what they see.

"If we don't put this in perspective for them and emphasise the curves a woman should have, then of course they're going to be obsessed with their appearance.

"They're trying to fit in with this template of what femininity should be. They all think they should have glossy hair, a permatan, white teeth and double-D breasts on a size eight body.

"They are not allowed to be individuals because they're all trying to be this homogenised celebrity that is put on a pedestal.

"During my research for the book, I didn't meet one young girl who didn't have some sort of checklist of plastic surgery that they wanted to get when they were older.

"I spent a day in a plastic surgeon's office and half of the people who came in were girls in their late teens or early 20s and all of them were having the work paid for by their parents."

There has been some backlash against the sexualisation of very young girls.

Channel 4's Sex Education Show campaigns against inappropriate clothing sold on the high street - such as padded bras for seven-year-olds or T-shirts with the slogans "So many boys, so little time" or "Future Footballer's Wife".

Presenter Anna Richardson caused chaos after storming a Primark store to protest about some of its ranges.

And last year glamour model Jordan was criticised for posting internet pictures of her daughter Princess Tiaamii, then aged two, in full make-up.

Tanith, 43, said: "I think it's time we gave parents a harder time about this. I'm also surprised at some of the things schools do, such as putting on proms for 10-year-olds and girls being encouraged to bring dates.

"I was contacted by the mum of a six-year-old whose teacher asked her to bring make-up in because they were setting up a make-over corner in the classroom.

"Another mum fell out with parents because they wanted to have a makeover tent for kids at the school fair. "Children don't need make-up. If you give cosmetics to a girl at the age of eight or nine, they think they are lacking something, they think they're not good enough as they are.

"What a message to give to a child. All children are beautiful as they are, what could you possibly improve about them?" Tanith also warns against children being given mobile phones with internet access as this is how many first come into contact with porn.

She also advises putting filters on home computers and actively monitoring what their children get up to online.

She added: "Fathers need to watch their behaviour too.

"Research has found that young women whose fathers make comments about their appearance are more likely to have an eating disorder.

"Then there are those dads who call their daughter a little princess and say she's going to be a heartbreaker when she's older.

"Enjoy her being a child, don't try to f as t -forward her into some 18-year-old sexpot."

Where Has My Little Girl Gone? by Tanith Carey is published by Lion Books, pounds 7.99. Le et girls enjoy th heir early years

KIRSTY Ri officer for T married to engineer a couple live with daugh eight-year-Kirsty sai daughters y short skirts dressing. ntoul, 38, a control room Traffic Scotland, is Paul, 38, a maintenance at Prestwick Airport. The e in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, hters Alex, 12, and -old Robyn. id: "We like to keep our young, and don't encourage or provocative "There ha because he moving from want her to not fitting in. "If she's g she's allowe nothing tha lot older tha "Robyn w sister, so Al far. as to be a balance with Alex, er classmates are m tween to teen. We don't be left out because she's n. going to a party or disco, ed to dress up a bit, but at would make her appear a an she is.

will take her lead from her ex isn't allowed to go too "You can lucky that o set down, a won't be thi only do your best but we're our girls accept the rules we and understand that they is age for long so they need to enjoy the age they are and stop trying to grow up too soon."

Alex is a first-year pupil at Auchenharvie Academy, Stevenston.

Alex said: "I've been allowed to stay up late a couple of nights this week to watch The Sex Education Show on Channel 4. It has shown how stores such as Matalan, Primark and Peacocks are selling padded bras for girls who are just Robyn's age, and hotpants with cheeky slogans on.

"I wouldn't wear those things, and I'd hate my eight-year-old sister to wear them. My mum is good at picking out clothes that are trendy, so I feel comfortable with what I'm wearing. I don't dress too young - but I'm not allowed to dress older.

"At school I wear a bit of mascara and lip gloss, and that's it. I don't go caked in make-up.

Once a year, for my dance school display, I'm allowed a fake tan."

CAPTION(S):

You couldn't make it up: Girls as young as seven have been given makeovers at primary school in an example of what expert Tanith Carey warns is the "Lolita effect" in modern society Sex-rated: (From top) Rihanna's S&M video, Princess Tiaamii with her curls straightened and fake lashes and mum Jordan